


oh how did you know, that's all we need / a promise of hope, is enough to feel free

by void_glitter



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: AU, Crying, F/F, Hugging, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lots of both, Reunions, i wrote this all in one go while drinking an entire pot of coffee because i had. so many feelings, probably a mild amount of ooc, takes place sometime after 'a little room of shadow'
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 07:57:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18961090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/void_glitter/pseuds/void_glitter
Summary: Lena gets some well-deserved hugs from her new family.





	oh how did you know, that's all we need / a promise of hope, is enough to feel free

**Author's Note:**

> so! wowie! this is probably a mess! but i rewatched the shadow war last night and got hit anew with feels so, therefore, i wrote some Good Stuff.  
> i intended to write this in a more canon-y way, possibly including della, but the au bug bit me hard and so i didn't. i kept the details about how lena got back vague because i do plan to write that eventually! just.. not yet. now is the time for hugs and tears!  
> the title is from dodie's "ready now", which i listened to on repeat the whole time i wrote this. its a very lena song pls listen to it

"Y'know what I missed?"

"What?"

"Food!"

Webby laughs, and oh, does it feel good to properly see her laughing face again. Lena grins so hard her cheeks hurt.

"Well, lets go get something to eat, then!" Webby says, bouncing off the bed. Lena follows with only a little less pep, still trying to get used to how it feels to be a person after months of being confined to a shadow. They're holding hands again, between them as they hurry out from Webby's room. And that's the place she feels most whole.

It doesn't hit her until they're descending the stairs that there are actually other people here.

Lena freezes up. She holds Webby's hand very tight and stops on the stairs, stops in the middle of a step. People are talking, in voices louder than she's heard in months, and there's a ball of fear in her gut heavier than a bowling ball.

"Lena?" Webby asks, her voice doing that sweet thing it does when she's worried. She steps back and stands next to Lena, only letting go of her hand to gently touch her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She swallows hard, because all of the sudden her mouth and throat feel very dry. She's... she's scared. She doesn't know why she's so scared-- everyone here has shown her nothing but kindness, save Mrs. Beakley's misgivings about her in the beginning-- she just knows that she _is_.

"Let's not go downstairs," Lena says as quickly as she can, her tongue feeling all wrong in her mouth. "Let's just go back to your room."

Webby's brows shoot up to her hairline. "But you said you're hungry." She tugs at Lena's sweater, stepping down one stair and pointing towards the landing below. "C'mon, it's alright. They'll be happy to see you're back!" She smiles, tugging once more.

 _That might be true_ , Lena thinks, still resisting against Webby's pulling. She talked ('talked') to the triplets a few times while trapped in Webby's shadow, and they had seemed happy that she was safe(ish) and that they could still talk to her.

And... well, one of the times she was around while Webby was asleep, she heard Scrooge mention her. A wondering about if she was alright, if they would ever see her again. A wondering of what became of the girl he offered a place in his family to.

(And that had done something to her. She had retreated to her new shadowy home and cried so hard she hurt, though she quickly resolved to never mention it.)

So, she packs up all that fear and anxiety into a pill, swallows it away, and finally nods her head. "Alright," She starts, taking Webby's hand again. She tries for some form of a smile. "But I reserve the right to bolt."

Webby gives a nervous laugh, and they finish their walk downstairs. All the commotion seems to be centered around the dining room, and while Lena kind of wants to scream at the idea of all that interaction, she soldiers through it, walking hand in hand with her best friend right towards it.

When they step in, it takes a moment for everyone to notice her. Conversations drop, words fade, and silverware clatters as it's set down. Everyone looks to be there-- the triplets, Launchpad, Beakley... and Scrooge, sitting at the head of the table, staring right at her with wide eyes.

The only thing Lena can think to do is wave awkwardly, and say: "Hi."

Dewey's the first one to react, cheering loudly and jumping off his chair to run over and hug Lena around the middle. "You're back!" He says, squeezing her tight. Lena can't stop the laugh that leaves her, perhaps startled out by the embrace, and some part of her that isn't so nervous allows her to hug him back. Huey and Louie join their hug after a second or two of consideration, and she accepts it without a lick of complaint. ( _This isn't too bad_ , she thinks. _Hugs are pretty cool. And this is going better than I expected_.)

"You're here!" Huey says, all high with excitement. He pulls away from the hug with furrowed brows. "How are you here?"

"Long story," Lena says, eyes darting to Webby. "Let's just say that Webby figured out how to pull me from the shadow realm."

The three boys go starry eyed, and they hug Webby too, seemingly just for good measure. She giggles, throwing her arms around them. (And that does something to Lena, too. The laugh, and all the affection.)

She takes her eyes off of the other kids for a minute, only to be blindsided by a very tight, very intense hug from Launchpad. He might be crying, judging by the hiccupy sounds in his voice as he greets her, but Lena can't really hear much over the rush of blood in her ears from how tight he's hugging her.

"I think you're strangling me," She says weakly, patting Launchpad's chest with one hand. "Nice to see you again."

He releases her, smiling sheepishly. "We kind of thought you were dead!" He says, with so much levity in his voice that Lena can't help but laugh.

"Nah, you guys aren't getting rid of me that easily." She says, straightening up her hair and pulling her sweater back into place.

Mrs. Beakley is next to descend on her, sweeping her into a tight hug and pressing a kiss to her temple. And that makes Lena's eyes feel all hot, and she's sincerely convinced she's going to cry before this is all over.

(Such weakness makes the heavy fear return, worried she'll be punished for it.

She knows, on some level, that no one here would do that to her, that they're caring people, that _not every adult is like Aunt Magica_ , but she can't help it. It's been engrained in her, written on the surface of her mind. Showing weakness is _bad_.

But maybe it isn't, when she's here.)

"I'm so glad to have you back with us," Mrs. Beakley says in a hush, almost lost in Lena's hair.

And, yep, there are the tears. They well in her eyes and flow down her cheeks, and she's loathe to show them, so she buries her face in the older woman's shoulder and hides them there.

A hand cards through her hair, and while some part of her wants to pull away from it (the part of her that was so scared, she realizes) the rest of her craves the affection, so she leans into Mrs. Beakley's hand and allows her to pet her, to soothe her crying.

She doesn't exactly know how long she spends aggressively hugging Mrs. Beakley, face hidden, but she's sure she's out of tears when she pulls away. She wipes her face on her sweater sleeve, giving a pathetic sounding sniffle, and earns herself a kiss on the forehead.

And that's about when she locks eyes with Scrooge. He's standing next to the table, holding his hat in his hands, worrying the brim between his fingers, an expression filled with something Lena can't possibly place on his face.

She steps away from Mrs. Beakley unsteadily, her eyes feeling a little sore from crying, and tries to smile at him. The man who's promise kept her sane.

"Hey, Mr. McDuck." She says, her voice all rough from her outburst of emotion. Her hands slide along the surface of her sweater, and she fleetingly thinks how nice it would be to have pockets. "It's nice to see you again."

Scrooge makes a sound-- something between a gasp and a cry-- and when he steps forward, Lena does as well. The hat hits the floor, and he doesn't seem to care.

This time, it's her who initiates a hug. She wraps her arms around him and hides her face in his shoulder. He startles for a moment, arms out, not daring to touch her, caught off guard by her affection.

(She'll never say it, but she's thought about this for months. Even before the shadow realm. She'd think, whenever she'd see the other kids get hugs: _I wonder if he'd hug me, too_.)

He hugs her back, with such fierceness that it kind of hurts, but Lena can't complain. It feels nice, to be hugged with such intensity.

Neither of them are able to speak much, because goddammit, Lena's crying again (maybe she never stopped?), eyes shut tight, every tear falling onto Scrooge's coat, and she's pretty sure he's crying too, his face tucked against her hair, hiding whatever feelings in her wavy feathers.

"Oh, Lena," He says, fondness laced into his voice, and one of his hands rest at the back of her head. "Welcome _home_ , Lena."

Any semblance of fear is wiped from Lena's mind at that word. That precious word.

 _Home_.

She's never had a home, until now.

"Glad to be here," She says, voice breaking, and allows herself some more weakness.

**Author's Note:**

> aand then they all have a nice meal together after everyones done crying  
> i meant to write more of lena and scrooge but i feel like the briefness makes it a little more sweet? idk i plan to write the two of them more anyway so  
> in the meantime come cry about lena to me on tumblr @violetsabrewiing (finger guns)


End file.
